International

Funding Issues Could Cause Delay
In Nautilus Solwara 1 ProjectNautilus Minerals Inc. (Toronto, Canada) could face delays in finalizing funding for the production support vessel to be used for its first deep-sea mining development project, Solwara 1 in Papua New Guinea. A consequential delay to the vessel build program could push back the commencement of Solwara 1 operations, Nautilus said in June.

Nautilus and Harren & Partner Maritime Services GmbH (Bremen, Germany) have been negotiating the terms of third-party financing related to the vessel, which is planned to be owned and operated by their joint venture company Vessel JV.

Harren & Partner said it will no longer be able to contribute the full amount of the equity to the Vessel JV contemplated by an April 2011 agreement due to a tightening of banking rules in Europe and the depressed shipping market, Nautilus said. The companies are evaluating alternative vessel and associated funding solutions.

Another factor in a potential delay to Solwara 1 is a dispute with Papua New Guinea, which exercised its option to acquire a 30 percent interest is the project but asserts that Nautilus has not met certain obligations and has breached the agreement. Nautilus refutes these assertions.

iSURVEY to Use SPRINT System for ROV SurveysiSURVEY Group AS (Billingstad, Norway) has purchased a Subsea Precision Reference Inertial Navigation Technology (SPRINT) system from Sonardyne International Ltd. (Yateley, England) to support its ROV surveys and deepwater marine construction activities, the company announced in late May.

The system is the first observation-class ROV system capable of autonomously following a predefined mission or maintaining station, regardless of changing currents and rough sea conditions, SeeByte said.

SeeByte adapted its navigation software to VideoRay's ROV control system and hydrodynamics. VideoRay worked with Teledyne RDI to adapt the Explorer DVL to a smaller, more hydrodynamic housing for the VideoRay Pro 4. BlueView contributed its multibeam sonar, with ProViewer Plus target-tracking software by SeeByte.

Scanmudring Acquires Vako Reef Subsea AS (Richmond, England) announced in June that its subsidiary Scanmudring AS (Mandal, Norway) has acquired Vako AS (Bjugn, Norway). Scanmudring had previously owned 38 percent of Vako and bought the remaining 62 percent for full ownership.

Vako will be integrated into Scanmudring-Rotech Subsea, a group of companies that have merged since Reef Subsea acquired Rotech Subsea (Aberdeen, Scotland) in November.

The Proteus seabed surveys were developed for environmental, oil and gas, marine biology and other coastal zone applications, such as engineering, environmental monitoring and strategic geospatial planning.

Unique Systems to Be Teledyne Service Provider Unique Systems FZE (Sharjah, United Arab Emirates) has been appointed as Teledyne TSS's (Watford, England) authorized service provider for the United Arab Emirates, the company announced in May.

Unique System will extend warranty and nonwarranty repair services for Teledyne's Meridian gyrocompasses and Meridian ancillaries, and will solicit orders for the specific services and spares in support of Teledyne TSS products in the United Arab Emirates.

The Comander MKII is a light work-class system equipped with one hydraulic multifunction manipulator, a wire-cutting arm by Hydro-Lek Ltd. (Finchampstead, England) and sensors for inspection tasks and leak detections.

It is also equipped with Mariscope explosive ordnance disposal lighting that can change the color of illumination from the surface during dives. This illumination aids in mine countermeasures, as modern mines have photo cells that react to white light. The ROV has been adapted to PNA's requirements to carry out various navigation operations and complement diving tasks.

In July, Mariscope will conduct pilot training under real conditions from PNA ships based in Puerto Madryn, Patagonia.

Solar-Powered Vessel Completes World Tour
After completing in May a 19-month world tour, the solar ship MS Tûranor PlanetSolar will sail the Mediterranean Sea from June to October to promote solar energy.

The vessel is a catamaran built in Kiel, Germany, and powered exclusively by solar energy. It is covered with 537 square meters of photovoltaic panels.

By this agreement, the Tognum Group can offer both onboard power and main propulsion, as well as a range of marine onboard gensets from 5 to 3,000 kilowatts, extending its portfolio in the lower power range.

Trelleborg Offers Rental Option for FendersTrelleborg Marine Systems (Singapore) launched in May a rental service for delivering and installing floating foam or pneumatic fenders within days to any location in Europe.

Pneumatic fenders are an ideal ship protection medium for LNG vessels, ocean platforms, floating structures, large docks and other load-sensitive structures, the company said.

Foam fenders, which also have high energy absorption, can be used for almost any fendering application and can be floating or dock mounted.

Panama Canal Authority Expands in Asia
The Panama Canal Authority met in June with top clients, government officials and maritime authorities in China, Japan and South Korea to reaffirm its relationship with customers and explain the impact of the canal's expansion program in Asia.

Panama Canal Administrator Alberto Alemán Zubieta said this will 'put into perspective the impact of Panama and the canal expansion on maritime trade.'

Among the canal's top five users, China is second, Japan is fourth and South Korea is fifth.

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